Miner hash rates for Bitcoin miners have increased

August 13, 2020
By Nicholas Say

Riot Blockchain reported a 250% increase in hash rate per second compared to 2019, but still had to overcome some difficulties

Riot Blockchain, a blockchain mining firm based in Colorado, recently published its second-quarter report, highlighting a 28% decrease of Bitcoin mined compared to 2019 Q2.

In Q2 2019, 316.19 were bitcoins were mined, but the number dwindled to 227 during the same quarter in 2020.

The report shows an improvement in mining power at Riot – the hash rate is now 250% higher than last year. Its current mining capacity is 357 PH/s and is expected to increase to 566 PH/s by October. The hash rate at the end of 2019 Q2 was only 101 PH/s.

On a larger scale, Riot also showed an increase in mining margin from 20.5% up to 33.5% and saw half a billion dollars in increased revenue compared to the first six months ended on June 30.

In the past, the company somewhat diversified its mining resources, mining Bitcoin alongside Litecoin and Bitcoin Cash.

Mining is harder than ever before

Back in July, Cryptonews reported that Bitcoin mining difficulty was at an all-time high, with difficulty jumping by nearly 10%, to reach 17.35 T.

This might be the result of high-end mining systems coming online after being pre-ordered months before.

Bitcoin mining could help to combat Covid-19

As the Covid-19 situation grows more serious, Kazakhstan proposed a tax of 15% on Bitcoin miners. This move is intended to utilise the growth of crypto in order to fund the fight against Covid-19.

Bitcoin.com reports that the bill will identify taxpayers involved with crypto mining as a separate entity from other taxpayers,

“The clause on registration makes the bill unique… the taxpayer working with cryptocurrencies stands apart from the very beginning of filing a tax return.”

Miners must declare the taxed amount on their existing tax applications.

As miners in Kazakhstan enjoyed low electricity tariffs and an unregulated crypto market, the nation possesses a booming mining economy. It is responsible for up to 6% of Bitcoin’s hash rate, second only to China.

This could be the first step for Kazakhstan to regulate the crypto industry and could result in an effective funding method in battling Covid-19, which would be positive news for the Central Asian nation.